This I Vow
by Roxie Zephyr Jocelyn
Summary: Pairing: Draco x Harry. We all have our roles to play, but what are they?


A/N: This Author's Note will be slightly long so please bear with me. This is yet another fic that is actually an excerpt from a story that has been haunting my mind. I just wanted to upload it to see what you guys think of it. If you don't mind not knowing the background to it and are willing to take it as a drabble, be my guest and feel free to read on. If not, here is the tale behind the excerpt.

This scene takes place at a crucial turning point in the battle of the Order against Voldemort. Draco has finally decided to openly defy the Dark Lord, and declare his title as the Leader of the Pureblood Rebellion by boldly attempting a high risk attack against Voldemort's forces. However, Harry is worried because Draco has been disowned and thus, will fight without his family support. This is their confrontation.

Now that the stage is set, it's on to the story. As usual, the intriguing characters of Harry Potter do not belong to me but to their esteemed creator, JK Rowling. For the patient ones who have made it this far, ENJOY!

This I Vow

'Don't go, Draco!'

Harry's desperate plea halted the pale-haired boy in his tracks. Though he inwardly flinched when Draco turned his 'are-you-stupid' look on him, Harry remained firm in his stand. 'Don't go,' he repeated, his entreaty now laced with an underlying tone of firm command.

Draco merely rolled his eyes. 'You truly are an idiot, Potter,' he drawled, his steel grey eyes glinting dangerously, 'Your cowardly hesitance is going to kill the members of the rebellion. They lack power. I have no time to waste with your whims of insecurity.' Harry opened his mouth, to defend or to protest nobody would ever know because the Gryffindor was silenced with a wave of an aristocratic hand. 'And, don't you even suggest going out there. We need you alive until the end of the war.' The Slytherin glared at his boyfriend. 'Never forget that you are Harry Potter.' Their gazes locked, a battle of wills crackling between them, and Harry caught the unspoken message in silver eyes.

_They need you not me._

'I am Harry Potter, and they need me because I'm their Sword,' said Harry, his voice thrumming with quiet but passionate conviction, 'but you are Draco Lucien Ithuriel, and they need you because you are their Hope.' Emerald eyes hardened stunning steel grey orbs into silence.

And, in that sudden moment Harry realized that this was true. The people had often looked to him for leadership because of his prophesized strength that could defeat Voldemort, their saviour from their oppressor. However, the people now looked to Draco for leadership because of his revealed strength behind his cunning, his revealed bravery behind his conviction. The same people who worshiped Harry in adoration and showered him in adulation also used him as a weapon, the secret ace against the one who sought to kill him. In stark contrast, the people who glorified Draco on a pedestal of awe and affection, who watched his every move in pure admiration, desired and had instead risked much to protect him even as he fought against the one who sought to destroy them all. The people that claimed to love Harry would hate him as soon as the tide of news and rumors turned against him. The people that claim to hate Draco had come to love him because his sacrifices had now been revealed, and he had earned their love.

Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Saviour of the Wizarding World, the Golden Boy of Hogwarts, had the power to end an age of suffering and torment, and to kill Voldemort who had bathed in the blood of innocent victims. However, it was Draco Lucien Ithuriel, the one once known as Draco Malfoy, who had given up his claim as the heir of the Dark Lord, the Leader of the Pureblood Rebellion, the Head Boy of Hogwarts, who would start the age of life, and become the symbol that would fuel in the united people the love for living.

Once the need for war was over, the need for Harry would end. But, the need for Draco would only have just begun.

Some of his emotional turmoil and revelation must have surfaced on his features because he was jerked back to reality by a fluttering caress of cold dancing fingers on his warm cheek. Startled darkened forest green orbs riveted on steel grey eyes that were melting into pools of molten silver, filled with affection and unbridled love. Embarrassingly, caught entirely off-guard, Harry belatedly realized that the façade of the cynic had all but vanished leaving behind the sincerity and heartbreaking honesty of the young man he had come to love. A striking flush spread across the bridge of his nose as the intensity of Draco's emotions was focused entirely on him, and him alone.

'I began my fight for you,' whispered Draco huskily, 'You gave me the courage to stand up for my convictions, to lead those who shared my beliefs. Damn the world, Harry, because you gave me purpose. You are my world.'

Both boys licked their lips as Draco leaned in closer, his eyes never leaving the widened eyes of his lover. 'I am your Sword,' he breathed.

_Use me as you will. Shed my blood in your defense._

Harry trembled as Draco's lips hovered inches from his, his boyfriend's hot breath sending delicious shivers down Harry's spine. 'You are my Hope.'

_I would protect you. I would kill for you. I would die for you._

_Never doubt that you are needed. I need you._

As Draco's lips crashed on to Harry's, passion exchanged for passion, a kiss made desperate in their need, made bitter by their anguish, made sweet in their love, a fleeting promise swept through their minds.

_And this, I vow._


End file.
